PETALING JAYA: Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who was honoured by the United States for her advocacy of women’s and human rights, hopes her experiences will inspire others, especially Malaysian women.Her courage and leadership garnered her the prestigious Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage 2009 award in conjunction with International Women’s Day.“This award has given us the opportunity, which we would not otherwise have had, to share our stories, our successes, our failures, to reach out across our borders and establish a base upon which we can build a meaningful network of support.“These stories must be told in all our countries,” Ambiga said during her speech in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, when she received the award.Ambiga, one of eight women from around the world honoured for women’s and human rights advocacy in their homeland, was also given the honour of representing the others in a speech before US First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ambiga said Clinton had inspired women around the world to “reach great heights” when she was First Lady and later a US Senator.Clinton, in her speech, lauded Ambiga for pursuing judicial reform and good governance, standing up for religious tolerance, and resolutely advocating women’s equality and their full political participation.The seven other women honoured at the ceremony were from Russia, Uzbekistan, Niger, Yemen, Guatemala, Iraq and Afghanistan.